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Situated 400km north-west of Moscow, the area is lost in the middle of the taiga. Around 80% of the area is covered by unspoiled forest with few roads. In the Tver region, in the district of Toropets is the Biological Station Chisty Les, « clean forest ». Part of the Central Forest Nature Reserve, the Station was founded in 1985 by the famous biologist Valentin Pazhetnov, so as to shelter his orphan bear cubs before rehabilitation. Since then, a 35-km? protected area surrounds the Station which has become a well-known place of study of large carnivores.